If It's Too Loud...

Last year, Margo Price had my #3 album of the year with Midwest Farmer's Daughter. Somehow she released a fantastic new EP and my #1 album of the year, All American Made.  Price just expertly nails a retro 70's style country with absolute perfection. It's a sound I didn't know I wanted more of until she came around, and I haven't been able to get enough of her music in the past two years. As great as Midwest Farmer's Daughter was, she grew on that sound. Margo Price will be a household name in the next few years, and she'll be one of the few that truly deserves it. Songs of note: "Weakness," "Learning to Lose," and "Loner."

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers hit such a sweet spot for me. Their latest album, Sidelong , is a collection of fun, dark, whiskey soaked country punk tunes. If the definition of outlaw country is too rock n roll for country and too country for rock n roll, Sidelong spits in both genres' faces and does whatever they feel like. You'll get enough twang to satisfy your country itch along with enough attitude to chase away the hokeyness the classic country twang can bring along. That's what is so great about Sarah Shook & The Disarmers: Most bands go too far into the classic country thing and become almost cartoonish copies of what classic country is supposed to be. This band goes that far, but play music far too badass for that foolishness. Songs of note: "Keep the Home Fires Burnin'," "The Nail," and "Fuck Up."

Sallie Ford's Soul Sick has earned the distinction of being the only album both Jeff and I put on our top ten lists. By default, that most likely earns it If It's Too Loud... album of the year honors, if we did such a thing. Sallie Ford has always been an artist that plays raw and with a confessional songwriting style. It's never been more apparent than on Soul Sick . Her doo wop meets garage meets indie rock sound is kept intact, but, while her previous albums have had a sense of fun, this one is dark and decidedly uncomfortable at times. I know this makes it sound like I'm calling Soul Sick  a complete bummer, but somehow Ford keeps her songs catchy and upbeat, despite the subject matter. Songs of note: "Loneliness is Power," "Get Out," and "Failure."

Avalon is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking albums of the year. With her first full length as The Huntress and Holder of Hands, and the first since losing Dave Lamb, her husband and Brown Bird bandmate, MorganEve Swain has crafted this amazing album that keeps what we loved about Brown Bird and growing from it. Avalon keeps the eastern European folk sound prevalent in much of Brown Bird's catalog, keeps the metal leanings of Axis Mundi , and adds in some of the noise of indie rock. It's an album of loss and rebirth. It may look back fondly, but it moves on from a horrible loss into something brand new, while still cherishing the past. Plus, it includes "Borealis," which may be my favorite song of 2017. Songs of note: "Borealis," "Shake Off Your Flesh," and "Creatures in Flight."

It's getting more and more rare to just stumble into a band at a live show these days. Back in the pre-internet days, you'd go to see a band you loved and had absolutely no idea about the opening band. The first time I ever heard Mogwai was when they opened for Pavement at Lupo's in Providence, RI in 1997. These days, I'll see that some band I've never heard of is opening a show and look them up to see if they're worth checking out. Sure, you get to miss terrible openers that way, but you lose out on that blown away out of nowhere experience. Back in October, I went to see The Courtneys and Weakened Friends last minute, and got to experience that again with Versing. Back then I wrote that Versing reminded me of early Superdrag meets The Dismemberment Plan, and after hearing Nirvana , I stand by that statement. The songs on the album have the epic feel and power pop noise of Regretfully Yours and the slightly quirky alterna-punk of the latter. It's a fun ...

If I felt that Fox Face weren't making music for me, then Downtown Boys really aren't. Just the fact that a good percentage of the songs are in Spanish, and I understand an embarrassingly low amount of Spanish.  Cost of Living is by far the best political record of the year. Released during the Charlottesville, VA protests made this album feel even more vital upon its release. A lot of music that gets called punk these days is hardly punk, and Downtown Boys don't have the traditional punk sound that "real" punk bands have been required to sound like since the 70's, but Cost of Living  is by far the most punk album of this century. Songs of note: "A Wall," "Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas)," and "I'm Enough (I Want More."

Fox Face isn't made for me. Hell, I just discovered they share a name with a character from The Hunger Games. This isn't meant for middle aged men with kids and mortgages. But the original wave of riot grrrl wasn't meant for me, either, and I still loved it. Fox Face is just pure raw aggression and true anger. With song titles like "Nasty Woman" and "I Believe in Science," there is no question who their anger is directed at. Fox Face get a key element of riot grrrl right that a lot of people miss: Despite the anger and aggression in any song from that genre, there is still a sense of fun. They may want to kick someone's teeth in, but they're going to mock them mercilessly first. Songs of note: "(What You're) Good For," "Clever Girl," "Toxic."

Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you are with this one. We're by far a metal blog. I think we write about a new metal release once every six months or so. And I'm really late to the Converge bandwagon by 25 years. To be honest, I don't think I ever listened to Converge until The Dusk in Us was released. Every so often I'll send something over to Jeff that I know he'll hate, and this was one of them. I decided to try it out after I sent it, and almost turned it off after about a minute. I had always dismissed Converge as one of those metal bands that's just screaming for the sake of screaming. And, to be fair, it kinda is. But then it clicked with me. The Dusk in Us  is pure chaos. It's loud and fast with all of this insane feedback and distortion and tempo changes. It's everything I love about all of my noise bands, but unbearably heavy. If Helmet are Sonic Youth for metal fans, Converge is Lightning Bolt for metal fans. What started out as a joke ...

When Nikki Lane released Highway Queen back in February, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I wouldn't say I loved it. But then on a whim I went to see her in Portsmouth back in August , and ever since then I've been obsessed. Ever since then, I'm pretty sure I've listened to Highway Queen  weekly (at least). Every song on this album is beyond catchy and runs the risk of being jammed in your skull for at least 48 hours. It's modern country, just Lane keeps just enough swagger and outlaw country in her sound to keep it classic. She occupies a world where Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, and The Dixie Chicks are all just as valid as each other. It might not be fair to rate an album based on how much I loved a live show, so I forced myself to keep this one at #9. (Plus, it's my list, so there you go...) Songs of note: "Jackpot," "Highway Queen," and "Big Mouth."

When I was a kid, I gravitated to oldies. It was most likely since that's the music that was always in my house growing up. My parents didn't listen to much of anything that could be considered current, so most of what I heard were bands like The Coasters and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. In my middle age, I lean towards music that could be defined mostly as roots/Americana. This is probably why I've loved the debut album from Molly Burch so much. It's this absolute perfect mix of 60's soul and the current roots movement. Please Be Mine  is a collection of these perfect little pop nuggets that exist in their own genre and time. Songs of note: "Downhearted," "Torn to Pieces," and "Not Today."